Moving on up...

The trailers (as they are affectionately known!) that have been home to the New Hospital Project Management Team for the past few years are getting ready to move on to their next destination! (We hear it’s Humber Hospital!)

With construction advancing at over 90 per cent, PCL is getting ready to move forward with final asphalt paving and curbs for the parking lots, meaning that the trailers will be old news after this weekend.

“The onsite project management office has been part of the key to building a successful partnership with Plenary/PCL over the construction period,” says Chief Planning and Development Officer Gloria Kain.

“With all partners being accessible in one central location on the construction site, we’ve had the fortune of efficient face-to-face communication, which is integral to the success of a project that continues on budget and on schedule.”

Testing the building infrastructure

The NHS Project Management Team will occupy space at the front of the first level of the Walker Family Cancer Centre, in the future Supportive Care/Psychosocial Oncology area. The team will be reassigned hospital extensions; stay tuned for further details including updated contact information and guidelines on such things as accessing the site office and holding meetings on site.

“We want to sincerely thank the Oncology Team for allowing us to borrow their space as we work to make the transition a success, and we promise to hand it back over to you next year, looking just as it does now!” adds Gloria.

“One of the really exciting components of the team moving into the site and using hospital extensions is that it signifies that the backbone of the IT infrastructure is ready to go,” says Regional Manager of ICT Technical Support Jeff Wilson.

“This will be the first in terms of testing our hospital extensions in the new site, which we will be implementing for the rest of our staff when the hospital opens, in order to keep familiarity with current numbers.”

Q&A: What’s the name of the new hospital?

Please contact us if you have a burning question to be answered in relation to the new site. One question we get asked frequently is the name of the new hospital, what the process will be to decide its name, as well as if there is a donor interested in naming the facility.

The following is the answer provided this week to the St. Catharines Standard for its Search Engine Column.

When the new health complex opens in 2013 the St. Catharines General and Ontario Street sites will no longer operate as functioning sites of the Niagara Health System. A final naming for the complex has not been decided, but the working site name is the Niagara Health System’s St. Catharines Site. The naming of a facility falls under the jurisdiction of the NHS Board. In the interim, the Ministry-appointed Supervisor has that responsibility. Any change in name will involve a stakeholder consultation process. The other possibility is that the facility be named in recognition of a donor as per the naming opportunities at the site. The NHS Board or Supervisor will also be engaged in that approval process.

NHS Supervisor Dr. Kevin Smith and Senior Executive Team

New integrated oncology information system on its way!

In preparation for providing care at the Walker Family Cancer Centre, and to support our integrated partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences’ Juravinski Cancer Centre, we are working together to create the foundation for a high quality, more tightly integrated cancer care system in our region.

A note of thanks goes to our ICT Department and NHS Oncology Program for their dedication to launching the new software on June 18, 2012. For more information on the MOSAIQ project, click here.

BBQ and Beats!

Last week’s BBQ at the Ontario Street Site was such a great success that Paul Wainwright of GIANT FM will be on location at today’s event, playing music between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to get you into the summer BBQ mode!

Be sure to grab your lunch between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Leonard Courtyard at the St. Catharines General Site. $5 gets you a veggie burger/burger/hotdog or sausage, along with chips and a drink!

A special thanks goes to our ICT Department for organizing the BBQs and GIANT FM for supporting our future Walker Family Cancer Centre!

Construction Snapshot!

The Food Court, which will be an inviting space for our patients, visitors and staff, is advancing in construction. We were thrilled to see the installation of special reflective lights to bounce the natural light throughout the space.

164 days until construction is complete!

With 164 days left in the construction schedule, the building is looking more like a hospital with each day that passes. On budget, on schedule and over 90% complete, the design of this world-class facility took the strengths of local knowledge from our clinicians and global expertise of our architects to create a building that is focused on the patient experience and outcome.

Please join us in achieving the goal of providing one million square feet of care